We are housed in the Regional Research Institute for Human Services of the School of Social Work at Portland State University, Below are our biographies. We are fortunate to have the leadership of Kristin Schubert, Ann Christiano, Mia Sedwick, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, as well as a cadre of advisors.

Laura Burney Nissen, Ph.D., M.S.W.
National Program Director
Phone: (503) 725-8911

Laura Burney Nissen specializes in innovative and dynamic community/cross-agency partnerships. She has led the Reclaiming Futures initiative through conceptualization, demonstration and dissemination. As national program director, Laura has written extensively about the lessons of the initiative, and is a regular speaker at national meetings on juvenile justice reform and excellence in youth programming. Laura has worked with state and federal agencies to encourage system-wide recognition and use of strength-based methods for youth. She is an associate professor at Portland State University's School of Social Work. Her research focuses on qualitative research methods, system reform issues, and communication tools for social change. She received both her M.S.W. and Ph.D. from the University of Denver, Graduate School of Social Work.

Jim Carlton
Deputy Director
Phone: (503) 725-8954

Jim Carlton has worked at Portland State University for over ten years and began with Reclaiming Futures when the project was still in its planning phase. He has served as deputy director since 2004. His responsibilities include assisting the director with overall management of the Reclaiming Futures initiative and the NPO, developing and monitoring the national program office budget, and management and coordination of coaching services. Before Reclaiming Futures, he provided administrative support to the director's office at the Regional Research Institute, the research branch of the Graduate School of Social Work. Jim earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Oregon.

Mark Fulop, M.A., M.P.H.
Grant and Partnership Development Director
Phone: (503) 725-8921

Mark Fulop has 17 years experience in public health education, training and technical assistance, youth development, alcohol and drug prevention, and mentoring. Before joining Reclaiming Futures, Mark was director of education and outreach programs for Multnomah County Health Environmental Health Services. He has directed a number of National Training and Technical Assistance Centers including the National Mentoring Center, The National Service Resource Center, and the Tobacco Education Clearinghouse of California. Mark's career has taken him into a variety of settings including county health departments, a university, nonprofit agencies and a church. Fulop holds masters degrees from San Diego State University and Loma Linda University.

Mac Prichard, M.P.A.
Communications Consultant
Phone: (503) 517-2772

Mac Prichard owns and operates Prichard Communications, a full-service public relations agency that works with philanthropies, non-profits and public agencies across the country. He previously served as the national communications director for Reclaiming Futures. Prior to that, Mac was a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Human Services, a speechwriter and deputy legislative director for former Oregon governor John Kitzhaber, and a Portland City Hall spokesman for Earl Blumenauer, now a Member of Congress. Prior, he was legislative and media relations director for the Massachusetts State Office for Refugees and Immigrants, the first public information officer for Boston's "Big Dig," and a researcher in former U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy's first Congressional campaign. He also served on the staff of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and the Council on Hemispheric Affairs. Mac has a master's from Harvard University and a bachelor's from the University of Iowa.

Dan Merrigan, Ed.D., M.P.H.
Leadership Consultant
Phone: (617) 638-5159

Dan Merrigan is an associate professor at the Boston University School of Public Health in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, where he also served as associate dean. Dan has been the principal investigator for the New England Alliance for the Public Health Workforce Development and the director for the Massachusetts Regional Public Health Leadership Forum. He has been engaged in numerous national substance abuse and treatment research, education, training and leadership facilitation initiatives for the past 30 years. Dan served as director of Join Together National Leadership Fellows program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dan holds degrees from the Jesuit Weston School of Theology, Boston University, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Villanova University. He was also a Jesuit priest for 20 years.

Cora Crary
Learning Collaborative Manager
Phone: (503) 725-8920

Cora Crary manages the creation, development and implementation of tools and resources for the Reclaiming Futures learning collaborative. In this role, Cora assists sites with their use of the website, online resources, web-based presentations and related tools. Prior to working with Reclaiming Futures, Cora spent six years managing and developing website projects. Cora received her bachelor's degree at The Evergreen State College.

Laura "LJ" Hernandez
Program Specialist
Phone: (503) 725-8924

LJ Hernandez assists Reclaiming Futures deputy director Jim Carlton. Previous to this position, she worked for the offices of the president and university development at Portland State University. Before coming to Portland, she worked in the admissions office at Southern Oregon University and received her bachelor’s degree there as well.

Miriam "Mimmy" Patterson, M.Phil.
Leadership Program Manager
Phone: (503) 725-8912

Mimmy Patterson manages the Reclaiming Futures Leadership program and its five fellowships (Community, Project Directors, Judicial, Juvenile Justice, and Treatment), staffing annual meetings and regular conference calls, 'buddy' matching of new site fellows with experienced fellows, acting as liaison among the fellowships and between the fellowships and the NPO. Mimmy has worked at Reclaiming Futures and Portland State University for five years; in previous years she worked at Boston University, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mimmy earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts from the Massachusetts College of Art, a master's degree in English from Trinity College, Dublin, and a bachelor's degree in English from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Cheryl Reed, M.S.
Administrative Manager
Phone: (503) 725-8911

Cheryl Reed has always worked in service of education. Thirty-eight years in Oregon, she taught in public schools and served as education director for a regional arts council. She has worked at Portland State University for 18 years, advancing its marketing and public information before coming to Reclaiming Futures. Her graduate degree from the University of Oregon is in arts administration.